Apocalypse: King of Zombies

Ethan set his phone down, leaned back into the couch, and closed his eyes, trying to relax. But his mind was elsewhere, turning over the same question: Who’s going to make the first move?

The morning passed uneventfully. Aside from the situation gaining traction online, everything was proceeding as expected.

Until noon.

At the edge of Ethan’s territory, a faint commotion began to stir. A group of zombies was gathering, led by a towering zombie king. This one was clearly a brute, built for strength—almost like a walking tank, not unlike Bulldozer.

This particular zombie king didn’t have much of a following. He’d been a drifter, constantly on the move, picking fights wherever he could.

”Heh, as long as you’re not dead, there’s always a chance to rise to the top. And now’s the time. Time to carve out my own turf!” The zombie king grinned wickedly, striding forward with purpose.

The group of underlings trailing behind him seemed just as fired up.

Moments later, they reached the edge of Ethan’s territory. But standing in the middle of the street ahead of them was a slim figure, her head tilted slightly, a pair of fierce, predatory eyes sizing them up.

It was Laura, stationed there to guard the area.

”Who’s this oversized idiot? Just looking at him pisses me off…” she muttered, her tone dripping with disdain.

The hulking zombie king stopped in his tracks, not attacking right away. His gaze locked onto Laura. He’d heard of her before—her reputation for brutality was well-known.

”Queen Laura,” he began, his voice deep and gravelly, ”how about we work together? I’ll help you take out the other zombie kings and build a new hive.”

”Huh? Who do you think you’re taking out?” Laura asked, her expression blank but her tone laced with irritation.

”Obviously Bulldozer and Shadow,” the zombie king replied, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

”Oh… that’s not a bad idea,” Laura said, nodding slightly. The thought of taking down Bulldozer had crossed her mind more than once. She’d always been curious about what was inside that thick skull of his.

But building a new hive? Yeah, no. Betraying Ethan wasn’t even on the table.

”So… I think I’ll just take you out instead!” she declared. And with that, her figure blurred as she launched herself straight at the towering zombie king.

”Huh?” The zombie king’s brows furrowed. So the rumors were true—Laura was as vicious as they said.

”Well, if that’s how it’s gonna be, then it’s a fight to the death! Let’s go!” he roared, turning to his followers. ”Attack!”

”Raaaghhh!” The zombies behind him erupted into a frenzy, charging forward with wild abandon.

The street instantly descended into chaos.

But it didn’t stop there. From the alleys and side streets, more zombies began to pour in—Ethan’s elite forces, ready to defend their turf.

The two groups clashed violently, tearing into each other with savage ferocity.

Amid the chaos, Laura darted around the zombie king, her claws slashing in a blur. Ten deep gashes appeared across his chest, dark, foul-smelling blood oozing out.

The zombie king howled in pain, swinging a massive fist toward her. But Laura was too fast, sidestepping effortlessly before vanishing from his sight again.

Swish, swish, swish!

Laura’s speed was overwhelming. She circled him relentlessly, her claws raking across his body again and again. Blood sprayed everywhere, and it wasn’t long before the once-imposing zombie king looked like he’d been shredded into ribbons.

The towering brute roared in frustration, but there was nothing he could do.

Laura leapt into the air, her razor-sharp claws aimed directly at his skull.

”Let’s see what’s inside that thick head of yours…” she muttered with a wicked grin.

...

This wasn’t an isolated incident. Around the edges of Ethan’s territory, other small zombie factions were also making moves, hoping to snatch a piece of the pie.

But they didn’t get far. Ethan’s other zombie kings quickly crushed these opportunists, wiping them out before they could become a real threat.

This kind of thing wasn’t unusual—it happened from time to time. But today, the number of attacks was unusually high. Still, it wasn’t enough to warrant Ethan’s personal involvement. His subordinates handled it with ease.

Meanwhile, high above the city, countless drones zipped through the air like hummingbirds, their movements swift and precise.

Genesis Biotech was keeping a close eye on the situation.

”Just as I thought. The zombies are starting to fight among themselves,” Nathan said, lounging in his office with one leg crossed over the other.

His gaze shifted to the side, where Jessica’s team stood nearby.

”Ahem! Captain Reed, taking down zombie kings must’ve been exhausting, huh? I think you and your team deserve a few days off. Leave the cleanup to us,” Nathan said with a sly smile.

Jessica scoffed, her expression dripping with contempt. ”Oh, I see how it is, Mr. Nathan. We do the hard work of killing the zombie kings, and then you swoop in to collect all the crystal cores and Neurocores? Nice try.”

The teammate next to Jessica chimed in enthusiastically, ”Exactly, Mr. Nathan! Other people plant the trees, and you just want to pick the fruit? That’s not how this works.”

Nathan forced a sheepish laugh, trying to play it off. ”Oh, come on now, it’s not like that. You’re making it sound so bad.” But inside, he was grumbling to himself. Damn, they saw right through me. These people are way too sharp.

Jessica stood up abruptly, brushing off the conversation. ”Alright, let’s move. We’ve got orders from Sophia—hunt down as many zombie kings as possible and bring them back to San Bernardino.”

”Yes, ma’am!” her team responded in unison, quickly gathering their gear and heading out the door.

Nathan watched them leave, his eyes narrowing as the door slammed shut with a loud bang. His expression immediately shifted to one of urgency. He turned to his assistant, practically barking orders. ”Hurry, hurry! Deploy as many Awakener squads as we can. We can’t let Jessica and her team snatch up all the crystal cores!”

”Understood!” The female assistant nodded and rushed out of the room.

Just as she was leaving, Nathan called after her, a new idea lighting up in his mind. ”Oh, and one more thing—post an announcement on the official site. Say that Genesis Biotech is officially restarting the ’Operation King Hunt’ initiative!”

...

Meanwhile, Ethan was still lounging on his couch, looking as relaxed as ever. But outside his window, the city was anything but calm. After a few days of relative peace, the apocalyptic chaos had returned. The air was filled with the guttural roars and howls of zombies, echoing through the streets.

High above the city, a few black crows circled the towering skyscrapers. One of them suddenly swooped down, landing on the 42nd-floor window of Ethan’s building. Its crimson eyes gleamed with excitement as it tapped its beak against the glass.

Tap, tap, tap! ”Dinner… dinner…”

”Oh…” Ethan murmured, sitting up lazily. He stretched his neck with a soft crack and glanced out the window, his gaze drifting toward the horizon. ”Where should I start?”

And just like that, his figure vanished into thin air.

At the edge of Ethan’s territory, the aftermath of a skirmish was still fresh. Zombie corpses were strewn across the ground in grotesque heaps. A few surviving zombies crouched over the bodies, clawing into their skulls to dig out the precious Neurocores inside.

Laura was among them. Having just taken down the hulking zombie king, she was drenched in foul, black blood. Kneeling on the ground, she dug her claws into the zombie king’s skull, stirring it around until she pulled out a crystal core. Without a second thought, and with no regard for the bits of brain matter clinging to it, she shoved the whole thing into her mouth.

The scene was bizarre, to say the least.

But then Laura’s nose twitched. She caught a whiff of something—something different. Her expression shifted, her eyes narrowing with excitement. She tilted her head slightly, her predatory gaze locking onto a group of figures in the distance.s.

Sure enough, a small team of humans was making their way down the street. It was Jessica’s squad.

”Well, well, an A-rank zombie king. You don’t see that every day…” Jessica muttered, her sharp eyes studying Laura from afar.

”Yeah, no kidding,” one of her teammates added. ”Looks like the L.A. branch has been feeding their zombies pretty well.”

Back in San Bernardino, A-rank zombies were practically extinct. Seeing one here was a rare treat.

Jessica wasted no time. She began issuing orders with the precision of a seasoned leader. ”Zoe, you and Joshua handle the elite zombies. The zombie king is mine and Daniel’s. Give us ten minutes, and we’ll have her down.”

”Got it, no problem,” Zoe replied with a nod.

The team moved quickly, splitting up and falling into their assigned roles. Their coordination was seamless, the result of countless hunts together.

It was this kind of teamwork that had allowed them to take down so many zombie kings back in San Bernardino.

...